thriftiness/frugality

An interesting thing about this experiment is that it's going to get harder as it progresses! After week one we are in high spirits and feel like it has mostly added positive changes to our lives. For example, when faced with the choice of preparing healthy homemade meals for lunch all week vs. preparing and therefore eating nothing, the obvious choice so far has been to prioritize making lunches! Here are a few other little life adjustments we've made each day.

January 1 - We went to Adam and McCall's for New Years and they brought us to a party at friends of theirs which ended up being lots of fun. We brought eggs and other breakfast goodies to Adam and McCall's earlier that night, knowing we would sleep over and want to go to brunch in the morning - the first day of the Spending Freeze. McCall and Tory made an awesome egg bake and we had such a relaxing morning drinking tea and coffee while it was in the oven.



January 2 - The deLange family Christmas present opening Skype was moved to January 2 this year to get everyone in on the call at the same time over the holidays. So we were given a ton of wonderful, thoughtful, and practical gifts to add to our lives. It was an easy day to practice gratefulness, and we are also grateful to be able to video chat with everyone and thank them "in person".



January 3 - Tory's coworker bought him a beer, and a new friend of mine was willing to go to the Tea Garden where I have a groupon for a large drink that I had already bought last month. In a disappointing turn of events, Tory had to drive all the way to Delano when his carpool buddies had other plans. Hans Wagen=3/4 tank by day 3. Tory arranged alternative carpool with Jonah for back up.

January 4 - Spent all day inside, which felt appropriate according to the temperature. Meal planning has been interesting since it's important to use up the things that will spoil and save the things that won't for later. In the morning, Tory made a huevos rancheros style egg bake with lots of veggies and black beans for protein, and I ended up making a pumpkin, cauliflower, spinach, and mock duck green curry and oatmeal pumpkin muffins later that evening. That pumpkin needed to be eaten.

January 5 - We lined up our activities in south Minneapolis for the day to maximize gas and travel. I brought my trusty consultant Tory to my designer meeting at You&Me, then we went to the VE Climbing Gym --- Solomon's Porch --- Home again. I'm pretty sore today since we ended up spending almost three hours at the gym before church but it was fun and felt like a good use of time with some buddies who showed up as well. We were quite hungry and a bit sad that we couldn't go out for dinner with the buddies after climbing or to Chipotle with the group after church but we rushed home and ate yummy leftover egg veggie bean bake wrapped up in tortillas. Been thinking a lot about instant vs. delayed gratification.




January 6 - We looked at the calendar and realized that January is a disproportionately long month and that there is still essentially 4 work weeks left of the experiment and we've already used a quarter of both our gas tanks! With Tory's commute, gas is definitely the most valuable resource in this experiment. I reaaaally hope it gets warmer before my bus commute begins. Neither of our cars started after work! After dinner we hung out with the next door neighbors, blew freezing bubbles and threw boiling water into the air - a night well spent.

January 7 - I gave a guy who was walking all bundled up a ride to the store this morning which has little to do with frugality, but still a lot to do with cultivating a spirit of abundance instead of scarcity. It barely made a different in my commute but saved him from walking almost 10 minutes in polar temperatures. And it was a small exercise in cultivating intentional vulnerability instead of fear which is a rare opportunity these days.

In the evening we had our bi-weekly finances group / couples group therapy / all around fantastic time. An ongoing conversation in that group has been around abundance and we got to share our experiment so far. The main reason for this experiment is saying, WE HAVE ENOUGH. Tory described it as living off the fat. We have so much that for a month we can live of the excess we've been accruing and be totally fine. A little more creative and intentional, and better for it hopefully.

I am writing you now because you are about to embark on a new technological adventure, down a path that everyone in the whole world, seemingly many people have gone before. Most people have done it successfully, but you are particularly prone to compulsive facebook and email checking and accidentally spending all evening on the internet, so here are a few tips on smartphone use from a non-user to refer back to once you start.



1. Don't install the facebook app on your phone. Keep facebook message notification alerts to show up in your email just in case someone sends you a message that would be useful to see while you're out. But don't install the app because you don't need to be checking facebook while you're out!

2. Don't forget that its okay to feel uncomfortable while waiting alone in social settings. You get a lot of thinking done when you are alone, surrounded by people.

3. People watching is great.

4. You don't need to be constantly entertained (DISTRACTED).

5. Even though it may seem like a text message is a good way to send a message while you are occupied, everyone you are occupied with can tell you are not paying attention to them. Be where you are. Don't let new technology interrupt your in-person interactions. You still don't like that even though you have an awesome new internet machine.

6. Tell people I still don't have text messaging? 

7. Take this opportunity to use this little device to actually spend LESS time on the internet. Do you need to go on the computer when you get home from work or something else? No, of course not. Because you've been attached to the internet the whole day!

8. Revel in the glory of no longer having to print out groupons or write down directions.

9. Are international text messages included? Text your family! Hurrah!

10. If smartphones become only available at a price of $80+/month again - opt back out!

Love,
Yourself, in 2013.


If any of you are curious, we are getting smartphones due to the new smartphones and plans Republic Wireless just came out with. $25/month unlimited everything, or $10/month unlimited data while connected to wifi plus unlimited call and text regardless. It's brilliant and cheap and just the thing we've been waiting for. I'm not anti-smartphone, just pro-frugality!

Anyways, you can use my referral link for $19 off (and I'll get it too!) for a free month of service if you decide to opt in: http://referrals.republicwireless.com/a/clk/1fghsS

Yay Smartphones!

Today I would like to encourage everyone I know to try couchsurfing, whether its by hosting or traveling. 
It's by far the best way I've found to really experience a place while traveling. It's a fantastic loophole financially and in term of interpersonal connections for travelers but also for hosting. We don't have time to travel all over the world right now, so couchsurfing brings the world to us. A couple from Wales stayed at our place for a few days last week. They have been crossing the world after living in Thailand for a few years - find more about their journeys here. 

Check out my couchsurfing profile and reviews and pretend you've never met me if you have fears about it being sketchy, and understand that you can be highly selective with the people you meet - by reading couchsurfing reviews you can guarantee that at least that many people have trusted this person and become better for it. Users can't delete reviews from their profile, so its important to built trust on the site, and easy to reject a request if you are not completely on board with their reviews (or lack of). In a sense, Couchsurfing is just as foolproof as the rest of life is/isn't, but opens you up to much more beauty and new life giving connections.

We got this message from our new buddies a day after Tory dropped them off on his way out to Delano. Tory heading to work, Nic and J heading to Montana and beyond:





"We are alive and well in Fargo.

We had the most amazing day! It got off to a slow start and we ended up sitting in the warmth of Burger King over a coffee. In there we met a pilot who gave us her phone number and offer of free Delta flights when we need them. Then we thumbed it at the side of the road where Tory dropped us and were picked up by a lovely lady who gave took us to a rest stop on the otherside of St Cloud and gave us $20! It was insane!
Whilst we were hugging her and thanking her another woman at the rest stop approached us and asked us what we were doing. She invited us to get a lift to Alexandria with her. Whilst were in the car we asked why she was heading there. She said she was going to a funeral of a friend. And then she asked us if we wanted to go with her as moral support and a way to get a cultural experience. So we went to a funeral.
This country is insane but my god do we love it!
We left the funeral laden with sandwiches and cakes for our journey and she took us to a rest stop about 70 miles from Fargo. 
We sat there for a while and it started to get really cold, a sweet lady asked us if we wanted a lift 20 miles but we decided to wait it out and try to get all the way to Fargo. SHE then gave us $20 and apologised for not being able to help more! 
Then a truck driver stopped, got out of his cab and handed us a bag full of drinks and snacks and apologised for getting off at the next exit. When we looked in the bag there was another $20 in there! 
We waited maybe 30 minutes more before we met a sweet sweet man who was heading all the way to Fargo and he dropped us off right at the motel (which we can afford because people gave us money!)

It's been amazing. So so amazing! People have gone above and beyond to help us. Yourselves included.
Feeling pretty overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers right now. 
I don't think we'll ever take a bus again!

Thank you so much for encouraging us to do this :D

Much love to you both,
Nic & J
xxx"